Anne Hurt Arrington

Arrington, Anne Hurt
August 20, 1934 - November 12, 2010
Anne Hurt (Anna) Arrington, 76, of Richmond, a long-time resident of the Los Angeles area, died November 12, 2010. She is survived by her husband of thirty-one years, Charles Breckenridge Arrington, Jr. (Breck); children Jessica Hill Gould (Scott) of Santa Rosa CA, Joel Hurt Jones (Maria) of New York City, Anne Ridley Jones-Drennan (Dan) of Carpinteria CA; grandchild Robert Taylor Bilbao of San Francisco CA; step children Elisabeth Arrington Cox (Richard) of Richmond, Anne Taylor Arrington (Daniel Schneider) of Missoula MT, Charles B. Arrington III (Luann) of Bay City MI, Robert Nash Arrington (Laraine) of Lawrenceville GA; foster daughter Lesleigh Gasbarre (Nick) of Agoura CA; step grandchildren Mary Taylor Walsh of Brunswick ME, Elisabeth Anne Arrington of Bay City MI, Sophia May Arrington and John Charles Arrington of Lawrenceville, GA; sisters Martha Hurt Loewy of Philadelphia PA, Sally Hurt Fleming (Dr. Lamar) of Atlanta GA, Clyde Hurt Feil (Otto) of Atlanta GA; and six nieces and nephews.
Anna was born August 20, 1934 in Atlanta where she grew up. Her parents, Anne Phillips Ridley Beauchamp and William Beauchamp, as well as her adoptive father and Anne's second husband, Joel Hurt III, all pre-deceased her. Anna graduated from Washington Seminary for Girls (now the Westminster Schools) in 1952 and from Hollins College (now University) in 1956. She married Robert M. Jones in 1956. She began her professional life as a dancer in New York City and as an actress in Williamsburg VA and Cleveland OH. The couple moved to Los Angeles CA in 1959 where Anna began teaching in private and public schools.
After her marriage ended, she worked in television production. Changing her career path in 1976, she worked as a public affairs analyst at the Atlantic Richfield Company in Los Angeles. In 1978, she was named the Arts and Humanities Program Officer for the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, one of the major corporate foundations in the country at that time. She became nationally respected and much beloved for her work with non-profit organizations throughout the country as well as in the Los Angeles arts community. She led in many ground-breaking arts projects, just a few examples of which were the Black Folk Arts Exhibit and the Hispanic Arts in America Exhibit, both initially at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC, and the early activities of the Simon Wiesenthal Center of Holocaust Studies in Los Angeles. She was the founding president of Arts Inc., a non-profit entity providing support to a wide range of organizations in the Los Angeles basin.
In 1979, she married Breck Arrington, a widower and lawyer/executive with the Atlantic Richfield Company. They took early retirement from ARCO and its Foundation at the end of 1985, moving to Washington, DC. Anna became Director of Development for the Aspen Music Festival in New York City and Aspen, CO, while Breck served as vice president of a Washington DC consulting firm. After three years of service with Aspen, Anna turned to consulting work with a number of significant cultural organizations.
In 1991, the couple moved to Richmond, living in the Church Hill Old and Historic District. At that point, Anna retired but partnered with Breck in his capacity as executive vice president (chief operating officer) of The Virginia Bar Association. After his retirement from the VBA in early 2006, the couple devoted themselves to overseas adventure travel to such places as Antarctica, southern and eastern Africa, Mongolia, Russia, India, and other locales. In January of 2009, Anna was diagnosed with stage four cancer. She heroically contested the disease until her death.
Avocationally, Anna was, among many other interests, a devoted trail rider throughout southern and central California at distances up to fifty miles at a time. She loved chamber music, serving on the board of Chamber Music America for over ten years. From her childhood, she had a passion for opera and dance. She played the piano and through such avenues as photography classes at the Studio School of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts became a gifted photographer. She loved animals, especially horses and standard poodles. She served Hollins for many years, including membership on the Alumnae Board, as reporter for her class, and her continuing time and attention. She had a special affinity for St. John's Church here in Richmond and it is believed that she was the first female Senior Warden in the history of this historic 400-year-old institution.
Funeral arrangements are with the Bennett Funeral Home in Richmond. Internment with family and close friends will be at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond at 10 AM Saturday, December 4, with a memorial service at St. John's at 2401 East Broad Street on Church Hill at 11 AM and a reception following in the Parish Hall adjacent to the church. Suggested alternatives to flowers in Anna's memory are Hollins University, P.O. Box 9629, Roanoke VA 24020, or the St. John's Church Endowment Fund, 2319 East Broad Street, Richmond 23223.
The family wishes to thank, in addition to the continuing help and kindnesses of Anna's legion of relatives and friends, especially Dr. James Khatcheressian, Deborah Weller N.P., Melissa Dunn, and the other staff at the Virginia Cancer Institute for their care of Anna, as well as Sara Sorrell C.N.A of Care Advantage for her attentions.

"The rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres
To hear the sea-maid's music."
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II, Scene 1